Live video problems
When a camera’s full-quality stream can’t play, Fregata Mobile plays the best thing it can and says why, in a line under the picture. The stream stats (the gauge at the top of the live view) show what’s actually arriving. Here is every message, what it means, and what to do.
Reduced quality: the fallback picture
Section titled “Reduced quality: the fallback picture”The fallback is Frigate’s own low-resolution picture, the one Frigate’s web interface shows when it can’t use go2rtc: smaller, slower and silent. A Fallback badge marks it.
| Message | Means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| This camera is not restreamed through go2rtc | Your server has no go2rtc stream for this camera. | Add a go2rtc restream for the camera in Frigate’s configuration; Frigate’s docs, Setting up go2rtc, explain how. |
| go2rtc could not open this camera’s stream | go2rtc tried the camera and failed, with go2rtc’s reason. | Check the camera’s address and credentials in go2rtc’s configuration, and that the camera is on. |
| … could not be decoded, so Frigate’s fallback picture is being used | The stream is in a format this iPhone can’t decode. | Choose another stream, or set the camera to H.264 or HEVC. |
The stream itself
Section titled “The stream itself”| Message | Means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| This stream keeps stalling | The connection can’t keep up with the stream’s bit rate. | Choose a smaller stream from the Stream control. On Fregata NVR, pick a lighter quality. |
| This stream keeps stalling, and this is already the smallest stream available | Even the smallest stream is too much for this connection. | Add a lower-resolution substream for the camera on the server, or wait for a better connection. |
| … is being decoded in software on this device, so it may play at a lower frame rate | The iPhone’s hardware decoder refused the stream, so the app decodes it itself. | Usually fine. If it’s choppy, choose another stream. |
| This camera streams …, which this device cannot decode | A codec the iPhone has no decoder for. | Change the camera’s codec to H.264 or HEVC. |
| The server accepted the connection but sent no video | The camera may be off, or not restreamed. | Check the camera is enabled in Frigate and restreamed through go2rtc. |
| go2rtc did not answer for this camera’s stream | go2rtc is down or overloaded. | Check go2rtc on your server; restarting Frigate restarts it. |
Connecting
Section titled “Connecting”| Message | Means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The server refused the live connection (HTTP 401) | Your sign-in has expired or changed. | Check the password in Settings › Connection. |
| The server refused the live connection (HTTP 4xx/5xx) | Something between the app and Frigate refused the WebSocket. | A reverse proxy has to pass WebSocket connections through. See Away from home. |
| The server is up but its video service is not answering | Frigate’s web server answers, but go2rtc behind it doesn’t. | Restart Frigate. |
| That server address cannot carry a video stream | The address isn’t one live video can use. | Check the address in Settings › Connection. |
Paused
Section titled “Paused”| Message | Means |
|---|---|
| Paused — app is in the background | Live video only plays while the app is open. It resumes when you come back. |
| Paused — device is too warm | The iPhone is hot. Reduced — device is warm comes first, a lighter load. |
| Paused — tap Play to resume | You paused it. |
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Settings › Diagnostics › Live video decoder chooses how live video is decoded. Automatic is right for almost everyone: it uses Apple’s hardware decoder, and when a stream won’t decode there it tries the app’s own decoder and then Apple’s software decoder before moving to another stream. The other choices force one decoder for every camera, for testing.
Then see Getting help: the report from Copy all includes the app’s log of what each stream did.